Benedictine College

Atchison, Kansas
www.benedictine.edu

Overview
Atchison, Kansas, has been known historical-
ly for its railroad identity (Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe) and as the birthplace of aviator
Amelia Earhart in 1897. It also has long been
a center for Benedictine life, hosting separate
orders of Sisters and Brothers.
St. Benedict’s Abbey spawned a college for
men in 1859, while the Benedictine Sisters of
Mount Saint Scholastica opened a women’s
college in 1923. The two institutions merged
to form the coed Benedictine College in 1971.
Nestled along the Missouri River in a town
quick facts
of 10,000 people, this college attracts students
from 38 states to study the liberal arts amid Founded: 1971 (merger)
a Catholic culture. The administration takes Type of institution: Small liberal arts college
Setting: Small town
their Catholic and Benedictine identity seri-
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,229 (2006–07
ously as is evidenced in their vision statement:
academic year)
“Benedictine College’s vision is to be one of
Total undergraduate cost: $24,180 (tuition,
the great Catholic colleges in America.” room and board for 2007–08)
There are 39 majors running the gamut Undergraduate majors: 39
from traditional liberal arts disciplines to
Five Key Points
athletic training to youth ministry. Three of
these majors—international studies, interna- 1. Commitment to a Catholic and
tional business and foreign languages (cover- Benedictine mission.
ing two or even three languages and study 2. One of the most extensive campus
abroad)—were added in fall 2007. In addition, ministry programs.
there are opportunities to pursue many mi- 3. Strong religious studies and
nors and double majors. Graduate programs philosophy departments.
are restricted to business administration and
4. Its Institute for Religious Studies helps
school leadership. train lay ministers.
The college drew students from 43 states, 5. A welcoming and family-like
Puerto Rico and 21 other countries in the environment.
2006–07 academic year. Undergraduate en-

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Benedictine College
rollment for fall 2007 was the highest in the
college’s history and represented the ninth
consecutive year of enrollment growth.
Governance
Twenty-five of the 31 members of the board of
trustees are lay representatives. Each of the
two Benedictine orders has three members on
the board.
Stephen Minnis, a lawyer and Benedictine
College alumnus, has been college president
since 2004. Mr. Minnis promotes the college’s
Catholic identity, urging on his website wel-
come, “Let us have Jesus in our hearts for-
ever.”
At his installation, Mr. Minnis was pre-
sented by the co-chairs of the board with
symbols of the institution’s four pillars: repre-
senting Catholicism was a cross; Benedictine
heritage, the Medal of Saint Benedict; liberal
arts, a copy of Venerable John Henry Cardinal
Newman’s book The Idea of a University; and
residential life, a drawing of a new residence
hall with a verse from the Acts of the Apos-
tles.
Public Identity
“The second you step on campus,” one stu-
dent told us, “you realize it is a Catholic col-
lege.” The college repeatedly refers to its four
pillars. For example, in recruiting for assistant
professors of English and sociology in early
2007, the website notes: “Candidates must
support the Catholic, Benedictine, Liberal
Arts and Residential mission of the College.”
The college works to create a Catholic
culture in its spiritual life, curriculum and
student activities. The Benedictine influence
remains strong, as is seen by the annual So-
lemnity of the Passing of St. Benedict Mass on
172
March 21; Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-
St. Joseph was the principal celebrant of the
2006 Mass.
The Catholic mindset starts at the top;
among other things, the president holds a
morning Rosary group that now attracts stu-
dents. The Benedictine monks are reported to
be resurgent, a definite presence and viewed
as role models. Faculty and staff attend cam-
pus Masses.
The students also make an important con-
tribution to the Catholic environment. After
grieving over the death of Pope John Paul II,
300 students held a “Pope Party” to celebrate
the election of Pope Benedict XVI in April
2005. Another example is the Lenten tradition
where students perform an outdoor Living
Stations of the Cross.
In January 2007, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Dr. Wangari Maathai was an honored guest
and speaker on campus. A 1964 graduate of
forerunner Mount St. Scholastica College, Dr.
Maathai has achieved fame as founder of the
Green Belt deforestation program in Kenya.
Although she did not raise the issue during
her visit, some on campus were disturbed by
her history of supporting contraceptive use to
address AIDS in Africa.
Nevertheless, most speakers on campus
tend to be solidly orthodox Catholics, often
part of the John Paul the Great Speaker Series.
These include papal biographer George Wei-
gel; FOCUS founder Curtis Martin; Dr. Scott
Hahn; Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.; and
Christopher West of the Theology of the Body
Institute. Mother Teresa also visited the cam-
pus in 1981.
The 2007 commencement speaker was for-
mer Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz,
who was awarded an honorary degree.
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Spiritual Life
President Minnis has said, “There are some
who say young people don’t care about their
faith any more. Let them come to Benedictine
College where 150 to 200 of our students at-
tend daily Mass and almost 250 of them par-
ticipate in voluntary Bible study through the
FOCUS [Fellowship of Catholic University
Students] program.”
Indeed, all the elements of a vibrant Catho-
lic spiritual life are present at BC. There are 10
Masses per week at St. Martin’s Chapel. In ad-
dition, another 23 Masses are offered at the St.
Benedict Abbey Church, the Mount St. Scho-
lastica Chapel and St. Benedict’s, the nearby
parish. One student reported, “You have your
options from a very conservative Mass [Ab-
bey] to a more charismatic Mass with Praise
and Worship [the youth-based campus cha-
pel]. There is nothing irreverent and you can
find one that fits your spirituality.”
Mass attendance is high, especially those
emphasizing charismatic worship. Students
are very engaged in assisting with all aspects
of the campus chapel. In addition to serving
as Eucharistic ministers and lectors, there also
are contingents dealing with distributing fli-
ers (Tack Ministry), working on the website
and keeping the chapel clean (Chapel Dust-
ers).
The priests are very active, too. Perhaps
this has helped boost the work of the St. Greg-
ory the Great vocational discernment group
on campus, which can claim more than 30
students who have entered religious life since
2000. Certainly the fact that there has been
an average of one new Benedictine novice on
campus each year for about the last eight has
helped in this effort.
Priests and monks are readily accessible
for consultation or spiritual direction, and
opportunities for confession are available
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Benedictine College
beyond the daily scheduled time. Eucha-
ristic adoration is held on Wednesdays, and
students have taken the initiative to promote
one-hour participation.
The glue that holds much of the spiritual
life together is a phenomenally active cam-
pus ministry. There is an athletes-in-training
scriptural study program, prison ministry,
social justice programs, targeted events such
as Guadalupe Day and Day of the Dead, a
weekly Wednesday Skip-a-Meal fasting pro-
gram, Daughters of the King (Catholic fellow-
ship among women), international mission
trips and many other activities.
The FOCUS group involves about one-
quarter of the undergraduates. FOCUS,
which is an acronym for Fellowship of Catho-
lic University Students, is a national Catholic
evangelization program on 32 campuses. Al-
though mostly present on secular campuses,
three Catholic colleges, including Benedic-
tine, have FOCUS chapters.
Retreats are also extensive, prompting one
student to say, “The joke on campus is ‘Which
retreat should I go on this week?’” These re-
treats include those targeted for men, women
and freshmen as well as an Abbey Triduum
Retreat during Holy Week. Also prominent
are evangelization programs and charismatic
initiatives such as Rave N Worship.
One graduate student living on campus
said, in summary, “There is so much spiritual
activity going on at the campus, it is unbe-
lievable.” In fact, this was a typical comment
of current and former students. One 2004
alumna summed up her Catholic experience
there by saying, “Mass, campus ministry,
FOCUS—from day one I was like a kid in a
candy store!”
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Catholicism in
the Classroom
All those who teach theology at BC are re-
quired to receive the mandatum, which
prompted one alumnus to tell us, “Everyone
is a straight arrow.” This characterization ex-
tends to both the religious studies and phi-
losophy departments. Another student said,
“All were excellent men inside the classroom
ing program in the spring or summer before
as well as in their personal life.”
beginning their studies. The program is called
Although many of the faculty in religious Student Orientation, Advising, and Registra-
studies and philosophy received plaudits, tion (SOAR).
two consistently surfaced in our research: Dr.
The religious studies major accounts for
Mark Zia, assistant professor of religious stud-
nearly 10 percent of the student body. But stu-
ies, and Dr. John Rziba, the philosophy chair.
dents can choose from most traditional ma-
Among teachers in other fields is Dr. Michael
jors—there are 39 overall, a large number for
King, an assistant professor of business. Dr.
such a small college.
King, the father of five and a BC alumnus,
brings Catholic and ethical examples into his These pursuits are enriched by various ex-
teaching. Many of the faculty and their fami- change activities and a formal study-abroad
lies participate in student events. program centered in Florence, Italy. Here, too,
the college emphasizes its four pillars.
The college lost an influential and popu-
lar faculty member when Dr. Edward Sri, a Since 1990 an Institute for Religious Stud-
debunker of the “DaVinci Code,” left in 2006 ies has worked with the Archdiocese of Kan-
to join the faculty of the graduate Augustine sas City, Kansas, to provide lay ministry
Institute in Denver. He taught courses on the training. Courses are offered in 10 Kansas
Christian moral life and love and responsibil- cities and participants can pursue three sepa-
ity. rate certificates.

About 60 percent of the courses must come

from various categories the college has desig-
nated for its educational plan. There are eight
core courses all students take, including one
in classical philosophy and introductory the-
ology.
Students then have broad choices from
several liberal arts fields in order to fulfill 11
“foundation” courses. They also select eight
courses from numerous offerings under the
heading “skills and perspectives.”
To help ease them into college life, first-
year students participate in a two-day advis-
Student Life
Students can join 33 clubs. In addition to cam-
pus ministry activities, organizations include
a Knights of Columbus council, a Ravens Re-
spect Life pro-life group and the faith-shar-
ing Koinonia. There is a student government
association, and the five officers each hold
posted office hours four or five days a week.
Benedictine students have participated
in every March for Life in Washington, D.C.,
since it was begun in 1974. In 2007, the Bene-

174 The Newman Guide


dictine contingent reached a record number
of 98. The campus is located 1,100 miles from
the nation’s capital, making it an 18-hour bus
trip.
There are no questionable clubs on cam-
pus. An effort to launch a general anti-
discrimination group called Spectrum lan-
guished. The student newspaper, the Circuit,
occasionally prints pro-abortion letters but
these are anomalies.
The Ravens participate in 11 intercolle-
giate sports, perhaps the most popular being
men’s football. The team, which competes in
the Heart of America Athletic Conference and
is a member of the National Association of In-
tercollegiate Athletics (N.A.I.A.), has a 77 per-
cent winning record over the past 13 years,
the best among 11 colleges in the region. They
play in a 3,000-seat stadium.
Notable is the commitment of Larry Wil-
cox, who is entering his 29th year as head
football coach in fall 2007. Wilcox, who gradu-
ated from BC in 1972, donated his salary in
2004 to the building fund for the Amino Cen-
ter, a sports training facility.
Residential Life
Benedictine has seven residence halls—three
for women, three for men and one that is coed.
The coed Ferrell Hall, a former 19th-century
monastery building, is separated by floor.
There is a visitation policy for the single-sex
halls, and the residential staff monitors it very
carefully and penalizes transgressors with
community service.
To assist in the process, chastity talks are
given at the beginning of the year and there
are groups that support men and women to
lead chaste lives. The seven resident direc-
tors, one for each dormitory, are trained in
Catholic classics, including the Order of St.
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Benedictine College
Benedict and Ex corde Eccelesiae. The residence
halls can accommodate about 70 percent of
the undergraduates.
Students report that sometimes there are
tensions between athletes and other students.
There also are some drinking problems with
students attending off-campus parties. To ad-
dress alcohol issues, the residential life team
has weekly root beer keg parties and spon-
sors other activities. The Student Government
Association recently passed a resolution look-
ing to call attention to alcohol and drinking
issues.
All students have access to a part-time
health center whose nurse tends to routine
health matters. A 96-bed community Atchi-
son Hospital is located near the campus.
More sophisticated medical care is available
in Kansas City, which is about one hour from
the town. There also is a counseling center
staffed by two professionals.
The Community
Atchison is small-town America. Its charm-
ing Victorian houses and trolley tours high-
light a low-key lifestyle. A major annual event
is the Amelia Earhart Festival, which draws
a big regional crowd in July. Crime is signifi-
cantly below the national average, and violent
crime is very rare.
Students have become involved in the
community through the Hunger Coalition.
Among its activities is the Skip-a-Meal pro-
gram that allows students to forego a meal
that is then donated by the cafeteria and dis-
tributed by students to needy area residents.
Once a month students venture to Kansas
City to assist homeless people through the
Uplift KC program. They also tutor in Atchi-
son schools.
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Benedictine College
In addition to Kansas City, students can
easily reach St. Joseph, Missouri, which is
about 20 miles across the state border. Local
road transportation is good, and the Canada-
to-Mexico Interstate 59 passes through Atchi-
son.
For those traveling some distance, the
principal access to Atchison is by way of
Kansas City International Airport, about
one-half-hour away. Once the hub for TWA,
the airport’s most extensive carrier today is
Southwest Airlines. Amtrak stations, through
which the east-west Southwest Chief travels,
are in Kansas City, Topeka and Lawrence.
176
The Bottom Line
While many Catholic colleges have de-
emphasized their ties to religious orders,
Benedictine College celebrates its Benedictine
charism. And, indeed, the influence of the
Benedictine Brothers is a positive one.
The college, with the leadership of a sup-
portive lay president, emphasizes its four pil-
lars of Catholicism, Benedictine heritage, lib-
eral arts and residential life. This permeates
an institution where faith is promoted and re-
spected. Perhaps nowhere is this more notice-
able than in what appears to us as one of the
most impressive campus ministry programs
in the nation.
The quality of the key departments, the
spiritual vigor and the family-like environ-
ment should be enough to encourage any high
school senior to give Benedictine College a
serious look. Everything seems to be present
here that would suggest a faithful, enjoyable
and rewarding undergraduate experience.
The Newman Guide